Gardens by the Bay murder trial: Accused proposed to another woman one month before lover was killed
Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock (second from left in car) outside court on July 21, 2016.
SINGAPORE — A month before he allegedly killed his lover and burned her body over three days until nothing was left of it, Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock proposed to one of his ex-lovers out of the blue. This was a year after this ex-lover and him had stopped communicating following a breakup.
Taking the stand on Thursday (May 14), the third day of Khoo’s trial, the ex-lover — known only as Ms Lim — said that she got together with him in 2014.
Like another ex-lover who testified on Tuesday, she was under the impression that he was single, owned a family business called Orchid Laundry and was a relatively rich man.
The prosecution, however, stated that Khoo was an employee earning S$3,000 a month at Orchid Laundry’s parent company, Dryclyn Express. The married man, now 50, has a son and is also an undischarged bankrupt.
‘LET’S GET MARRIED’
The court heard that Khoo had broken up with Ms Lim by June 2015. But a day after her birthday on June 14, 2016, Khoo sent her a message wishing her a happy birthday.
He then followed up with a message that said, “I am still alone now”, which led Ms Lim to think that he wanted them to reconcile.
Ms Lim already suspected that Khoo could be married, as she had chanced upon a photograph of him with a woman and a boy on another woman’s Facebook profile. She replied: “So she is your ex-wife and son, right?”
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Khoo had previously told her that the woman in the photo was his sister and her son, but she suspected that he was lying because the boy looked very much like him, she told the court.
A day later, Khoo sent her a message again to ask if she wanted to get back together. She did not reply.
Then on June 16, 2016, Khoo said: “Let’s get married.”
Khoo had never formally proposed to her when they were in a relationship, but had indicated to her that he would host a “very grand wedding ceremony”, Ms Lim testified.
'SWINDLED S$65,000 FROM FOUR WOMEN'
The prosecution’s case is that Khoo was a “charlatan” who cheated the dead woman, Chinese engineer Cui Yajie, 31, of her feelings and money.
Prosecutors claimed that Cui was closing in on his lies when Khoo strangled her at a secluded spot in Gardens by the Bay on July 12, 2016. He then allegedly disposed of her body by burning it at Lim Chu Kang Lane 8, feeding charcoal and kerosene on occasional visits to the site over three days.
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Using the accounts of its witnesses, the prosecution said that Khoo had swindled S$65,000 from four women besides Cui, and misappropriated around S$24,000 in sales proceeds and franchisee fees from his employers.
Ms Lim was not one of the women Khoo conned with the promise of investments. However, she had once given him S$1,000 when he said he needed to compensate a customer after ruining a suit in the course of his work. The money was not returned to her.
Earlier in the week on Tuesday, a hairdresser known only as Karen took the stand to recount how she borrowed S$10,000 from her sister and S$20,000 from her brother to “invest” in what she thought was Khoo’s laundry business.
Karen, who was Khoo’s girlfriend from October 2014, testified that she trusted him with the money because she was under the impression that he was a former DBS bank employee living in Sentosa resort island, and was savvy with investments.
She did not get back any money from her “investments”.
‘SUDDEN’ CALL FROM KHOO
Another witness, Mr Ng Mun Heng, testified on Thursday that a day before Cui died, Khoo “suddenly” called him to ask when he would return S$10,000 in “franchising fees” owed.
Mr Ng said that they had agreed on a later date to settle the outstanding amount as he had explained that he was having some cash-flow issues.
The prosecution said that Cui and Khoo were quarrelling over money in the days leading up to her death.
Cui had given Khoo S$20,000 — a sum she asked from her parents — which he claimed would go towards “gold investments”.
Khoo returned S$10,000 to her in early July 2016, using money he had received from another woman with whom he was intimate.
